Demand for organic produce exceeds supply #Namibia

Gaborone — During a recent regional training workshop on
marketing and extension support to organic farmers and
practitioners held in Gaborone, Botswana, the chairperson
of the Namibian Organic Association (NOA), Manjo Smith,
said demand for organic agricultural produce exceeds
supply, resulting in a need to strengthen organic capacity in
the agricultural sector. She said training opportunities are
invaluable in this regard.
During the workshop, organised by the African Union (AU),
Smith said there is a high demand in Namibia for organic
agricultural produce as people prefer food that is healthy,
nutritious and free from harmful pesticides or genetically
modified organisms (GMOs). In addition to providing
training on organic farming operations, the workshop
covered natural management techniques for pests,
marketing of produce and compliance with organic
standards.
The AU Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture
Policy Officer, Jonathan Nyarko Ocran, said development of
organic agriculture is a key component of the 2014 AU Year
of Agriculture and Food Security. Ocran said the programme
also marks the 10th anniversary of the Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
CAADP, a flagship programme of the African Union,
encourages AU members to allocate at least 10 percent of
their total public expenditure to agriculture.
Currently, 50 of the 54 AU countries use the CAADP
framework to develop their agriculture. Ocran said that
organic and near-organic agricultural methods and
technologies are ideally suited for many poor and
marginalized smallholder farmers, as they require minimal
or no external inputs and also use locally and naturally
available materials to produce high-quality products.